Boys’ basketball: Greely holds off Wells for 46th straight win

WELLS — When you’re part of a Greely High boys’ basketball program that’s won 46 straight games – counting a 61-47 win Monday night at Wells – you learn how to respond to a challenge.

So when tensions were mounting, the home crowd was rocking and a 22-point lead had dwindled to single digits, Logan Bagshaw and his teammates responded.

“I think we’re definitely starting to mature and deal with those situations in a good way, a strong way,” said Bagshaw, who scored 24 of his 27 points in the second half. “When that happens, we know how we’ve dealt with it before and what to do, and what not to do.”

Wells struggled through a 4-of-30 shooting slump in the first half and trailed 26-10 at the break in the Western Maine Conference game. That lead stretched to as much as 37-15 in the third quarter.

But when Tyler Bridge hit a baseline jumper and reserve Caleb Corey followed with a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter, Wells was in the game, down 45-37 with nearly a quarter to play.

Then Bagshaw stepped into a deep 3-pointer, followed by a second 3-ball in transition after a Michael Coppersmith defensive rebound and outlet pass.

Just like that the lead was back to 14.

With about four minutes to play, emotions heated as Bagshaw drew fouls in short order on Dylan Whitney (his fifth) and then by Matt Sherburne.

The second was an intentional foul from behind when Bagshaw was going up for a layup and tantalizingly put the ball and his right arm out to the side, which Sherburne whacked hard, causing Bagshaw to fall.

“Everyone’s out to get us. We handle that. We expect that,” Bagshaw said. “We just try to keep our head in the game. We focus on what our goals are to get back up and do even better.”

Bagshaw made both free throws to start a game-cinching 8-0 run that included Andrew Storey’s second and third dunks of the game.

Bagshaw made six 3-pointers. He has scored 53 points in two games.

Greely played without senior all-state guard Zach Brown, who is out until at least Christmas with a broken finger.

Storey followed his 25-point opening-night effort with 18 points and Coppersmith added nine. Jakob Bernheisel played a key role in taking on the defensive task of guarding Sherburne, who averaged 14.8 points last season. Sherburne was held to eight points on a tough 2-of-14 night from the floor.

“We didn’t do a good job of working him off screens to give him good looks,” said Wells Coach Troy Brown.

Bridge finished with 11 points and Gavyn Leighton led Wells with 12. Corey contributed eight points, with two fourth-quarter 3-pointers.

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